.vcf

What is a .vcf file?

VCF is a universal contact format — name, phone, email, and address data supported by every major contacts application.

Safe format
Type Misc
By Internet Mail Consortium
MIME text/vcard

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What is it

Someone sent you their contact information as a .vcf file — a vCard. Double-click it and your contacts app (Apple Contacts, Google Contacts, Outlook) offers to add the person. VCF is the universal format for sharing contact data: name, phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses, job title, company, and even a photo.

The vCard format was originally developed by Versit (a consortium of Apple, AT&T, IBM, and Siemens) in 1995. VCF files are plain text — open one in a text editor and you can read the contact details directly (BEGIN:VCARD, FN:John Smith, TEL:+1-555-0100, etc.). A single .vcf file can contain multiple contacts, which is how address book backups and bulk exports work.

Every contacts application imports VCF — Apple Contacts, Google Contacts (via import), Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird. On phones, tapping a .vcf attachment usually opens the contacts app with an "Add" prompt. For exporting your own contacts, most apps offer VCF export for backup or transfer. It's the one format that makes moving contacts between platforms genuinely painless.

Technical details
Full Name
vCard Contact File
MIME Type
text/vcard
Developer
Internet Mail Consortium
Magic Bytes
N/A
Safety
.vcf is a known, safe format.
What opens it
Apple Contacts
FREE macOS / iOS
Google Contacts
FREE Web
Microsoft Outlook
Subscription All
FAQ
How do I import a VCF file into Google Contacts?
Go to contacts.google.com → Import (in the left sidebar) → Select file → choose your .vcf file. Google Contacts handles single-contact and multi-contact VCF files. On Android, opening a .vcf file prompts you to add the contact directly.
Can a VCF file contain multiple contacts?
Yes. A single .vcf file can contain hundreds of contacts (each wrapped in BEGIN:VCARD / END:VCARD blocks). This is how contacts apps export full address book backups.
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